Hard at Play

Hard at Play is the sixth album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. It was released in 1991 on EMI for most of the world and Chrysalis in the UK. Hard at Play peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart and produced two top 40 singles, "Couple Days Off" and "It Hit Me Like a Hammer." Music videos were released for "It Hit Me like a Hammer," "Couple Days Off," and "He Don't Know."

Hard at Play
Studio album by
Huey Lewis and the News
Released7 May 1991
Recorded1990-1991
StudioSkywalker Sound and The Site (Marin County, California); Schnee Studios (North Hollywood, California); Studio D (Sausalito, California); Apt. 2 Recording (Novato, California); Sub-Par Recording (California).
GenreRock, pop rock
Length46:09
LabelChrysalis (UK)[1]
EMI (Most of the world)
ProducerHuey Lewis and the News
Bill Schnee
Eric Thorngren
Huey Lewis and the News chronology
Small World
(1988)		 Hard at Play
(1991)		 Four Chords & Several Years Ago
(1994)
Singles from Hard at Play
  1. "Couple Days Off"
    Released: 1991
  2. "It Hit Me Like a Hammer"
    Released: 1991
  3. "He Don't Know"
    Released: 1991

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes the "return to the straight-ahead blues-inflected pop/rock that made Huey Lewis and the News superstars in the early '80s" with Hard at Play.[2]

Track listing
  1. "Build Me Up" (Johnny Colla, Huey Lewis) – 4:28
  2. "It Hit Me Like a Hammer" (Robert "Mutt" Lange, Lewis) – 4:01
  3. "Attitude" (Max Carl) – 4:00
  4. "He Don't Know" (Don Covay, Jon Tiven, Sally Tiven) – 4:15
  5. "Couple Days Off" (Chris Hayes, Lewis, Geoffrey Palmer) – 4:56
  6. "That's Not Me" (Michael Ruff) – 4:15
  7. "We Should Be Making Love" (Andy Goldmark, Steve Kipner, Steve Lindsey) – 4:01
  8. "Best of Me" (Bonnie Hayes, Kevin Hayes, Annie Stocking) – 3:57
  9. "Do You Love Me, Or What?" (C. Hayes, Lewis, Nick Lowe) – 3:46
  10. "Don't Look Back" (Lewis, Bill Gibson, David Fredericks) – 3:44
  11. "Time Ain't Money" (Colla, Lewis) – 4:46

Personnel

Huey Lewis and the News

Additional personnel

  • The Gospel Hummingbirds – backing vocals (4)
  • David Fredericks – backing vocals (5, 10)
  • Mike Duke – backing vocals (6)
  • Michael Ruff – backing vocals (6)
  • John McFee – guitar (11)

Production
  • Huey Lewis and the News – producers
  • Bill Schnee – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Eric "ET" Thorngren – co-producer (1, 5), additional engineer
  • Bob Brown – executive producer
  • Bob Edwards – additional engineer, assistant engineer
  • Jeffrey "Nik" Norman – additional engineer
  • Ken Allardyce – assistant engineer, mix assistant
  • Tony Eckert – assistant engineer
  • Stephen Hart – assistant engineer
  • Tim Lauber – assistant engineer
  • Kevin Scott – assistant engineer
  • Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer
  • Jack Joseph Puig – mixing
  • Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, CA).
  • Henry Marquez – art direction
  • Michael Diehl – design
  • Aaron Rapoport – photography

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[3] 61
Canadian Albums (RPM)[4] 20
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[5] 67
European Top 100 Albums[6] 25
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] 14
Italian Albums (AFI)[9] 25
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[10] 10
Japanese International Albums (Oricon)[11] 1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 26
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 39
US Billboard 200[16] 27
Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA)[17] 7

Year-end charts
Chart (1991) Position
Canadian Albums Chart (RPM)[18] 85

Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1991 "Couple Days Off" Album Rock Tracks 3
1991 The Billboard Hot 100 11
1991 "Build Me Up" Album Rock Tracks 27
1991 "It Hit Me Like a Hammer" The Billboard Hot 100 21
1991 Adult Contemporary 10

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[19] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[20] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Huey Lewis And The News – Hard At Play (1991, Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hard at Play – Huey Lewis & the News". AllMusic. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  3. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 165.
  4. "RPM: Huey Lewis and the News (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  5. "Dutchcharts.nl – Huey Lewis and the News – Hard at Play" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  6. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (12 October 1991). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 24 December 2021 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  8. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  9. "Hit Parade Italia - ALBUM 1991: Altri". Hit Parade Italia.
  10. "Oricon Archive - Huey Lewis and the News". Oricon. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  11. "Oricon Archive - Huey Lewis and the News". Oricon. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  12. "Charts.nz – Huey Lewis and the News – Hard at Play". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  13. "Swedishcharts.com – Huey Lewis and the News – Hard at Play". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  14. "Swisscharts.com – Huey Lewis and the News – Hard at Play". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  15. "Huey Lewis and the News Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  16. "Huey Lewis and the News Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
    • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  18. "The RPM Top 100 Albums of 1991". RPM. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  19. "Canadian album certifications – Huey Lewis and the News – Hard at Play". Music Canada. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  20. "Japanese album certifications – ヒューイ・ルイス・アンド・ザ・ニュース – ハード・アット・プレイ" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved July 25, 2012. Select 1992年5月 on the drop-down menu
  21. "American album certifications – Huey Lewis and the News – Hard at Play". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
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